


Girl's Night Out

by cdreaiton



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Drinking, Good evening gone bad, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:02:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8288309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdreaiton/pseuds/cdreaiton
Summary: Jane and Darcy go to a local bar for a girl's night out, but a few other patrons get a little too aggressive.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [charis2770](https://archiveofourown.org/users/charis2770/gifts).



> This story is set in the MCU slight AU verse created by charis2770. All the Avengers live in a mansion together, along with Jane and Darcy.

“Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Jane asks the woman next to her for the third time that day.

Natasha glares at her coldly, and Jane feels a little shiver of fear run up her back, though she knows her friend would never _actually_ hurt her.

“Yes Jane, I’m sure. You and Darcy will have plenty of fun without me. Go. Enjoy your girl's night out.”

“We will,” Jane smiles.

“And if you even think about drunk texting me..” Natasha starts, still glaring though there’s no real malice in it.

“You’ll kill me. Painfully. I know.” Jane grabs her bag from the floor, still smiling. “I won’t drunk text you, I promise.”

“Come on turtle legs, let’s get this night started!” Darcy interjects loudly from the doorway.

Jane shakes her head with a smile and joins her best friend as she heads out the front door and into the car they’re using for the night. Since they plan on drinking, and since drinking with Darcy usually means they both end up wasted, one of the SHIELD agents offered to take them to the bar and then pick them up later. With a final wave at Natasha, which she returns by shooing Jane away, Jane slides into the back seat of the sleek black SUV and lets work start to fade from her mind. Tonight is about having fun and relaxing.

The bar they've chosen is only about twenty minutes from the Avenger’s mansion, and it’s neither too loud, nor too crowded. It’s been a long, trying week at the lab, and both Jane and Darcy are happy for the respite. And the girl time. As they order their drinks, Jane wishes Natasha would have joined them, or that Pepper had been in town. But she knows Natasha can’t actually relax in groups of people she doesn’t know, so the night wouldn’t have actually been fun for her, and Pepper’s in the middle of closing some deal in Los Angeles. She resolves to make sure to have a girl’s night at the mansion soon.

They talk and laugh as they drink, enjoying themselves so completely, they lose track of the time, and how much they’ve had. Darcy is well and truly drunk, making toasts with Jane to the most ridiculous things. Thor’s hair. Bruce’s smile. Brazilian tree frogs. Bruce’s laugh. Sex in general. Bruce’s constant look of confusion. Jane smiles to herself as Darcy makes more and more toasts to the things her friend loves about Dr. Banner. She’s glad Darcy's found someone who makes her happy.

As Darcy continues her toasting, Jane notices a group of guys at one of the corner booths watching them. When one of them sees her looking, he winks at her. She turns away quickly and tries to ignore them. After a few minutes, she glances at them again. They’re still watching. Feeling a little creeped out at the way they’re looking at her and Darcy, Jane decides to call it a night and head back to the mansion.

“Come on, Darcy. Let’s head back. I’m starting to get a little tired.” Jane says, picking up her bag and helping her friend to her feet.

“What? We just got here! You really can’t go more than a few hours without thunder stud can you?” Darcy asks wryly.

“And who is it that just a few minutes ago was making a toast to Dr. Banner’s envelope licking technique?” Returns Jane with a small chuckle.

“You’re just jealous that he has a better tongue than hammer head.”

“I doubt that.” Jane mutters under her breath, a small kernel of warmth flushing her face.

She heads to the bar to close out their tab, but one of the men that had been watching them steps in front of her, blocking her path and causing her to have to stop abruptly.

“Excuse me.” She mumbles, stepping to the side to go around the guy. A hand on her arm stops her.

“Hey now, little lady. What’s the hurry? What d’ya say you and your friend here join me and my boys for a few drinks?” Asks the man who’d grabbed her arm.

“No thanks. We really should be getting home.”

“Well, that’s no fun. The night’s still young!” The grip on her arm tightens, painfully, and starts pulling her towards their table. “Come and have a drink with us. We’ll show you a good time.”

Jane briefly contemplates trying to get away from him, but she isn’t very steady on her feet herself, and Darcy definitely isn’t sober enough to run. And she can’t leave her best friend behind. So she lets herself be steered to their table.

She has a panic button, concealed as one of the buttons on her bag, that everyone had insisted she have and take with her anytime she’s away from either the mansion or Stark Tower. Having a famous and powerful boyfriend has its dangers, so she had agreed to having it. She thinks about pressing it, but even in her tipsy state she realizes that bringing the entire might of the Avengers down on the little bar is a bit overkill. They wouldn’t mind, because she’d be safe, but it’s still a little, well, _a lot_ too extreme.

Her next thought is to call Thor. Even if all she was able to say was the word ‘help,’ he’s fast enough that he’d be there before the men could really do anything to either of them. But his temper, especially when it comes to people hurting her, tends to be on the violent side. He’d probably level the bar, and there are several innocent people there who might get hurt.

Fear tries to take over her mind as she’s pulled into the corner booth, but she pushes it back. She needs help, because she knows this situation can go from bad to worse really fast and the thought of that terrifies her. But she needs _subtle_ help. And she just so happens to have a friend who’s a super spy. So she pulls out her phone, trying to keep her hands from shaking.

“I just need to text a coworker real quick, make sure she doesn’t forget some things.”

One of the men puts an arm around her shoulders and watches her type. She prays silently that her message makes sense and hits send.

***

“Oh come on! You’re messing with us. No one can eat three whole boar just for a snack!” Clint says in disbelief at the story Thor’s just told them.

“Tis the truth my friend, I swear it. You should see the amount of food he consumes when we feast after a battle.” Thor smiles and takes another long drink of his beer.

Clint shakes his head, still not believing the story. Deciding to follow the girls’ example, the team had ordered pizza and spent the evening sitting around the living room just talking and relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. They’re still technically on call though, so none of them are even remotely tipsy.

Natasha feels her phone go off and pulls it out of her pocket. When she sees it’s a message from Jane, she sighs internally, hoping the girl hasn’t forgotten the warning about drunk texting, and opens it.

_Hey! Just wanted to remind you to pull the Level 4 files from records before you lock up. Make sure you mark them EXT REQ so they don’t get confused with all the others. Don’t forget to take the bird with you, but leave the hammer and the other tools there for now._

It takes Natasha’s brain all of two seconds to realize the text is _way_ to obscure to be a simple drunk text, and less than two more to realize Jane is in trouble. She reads the message a second time to be sure of what it actually means.

She’d told Jane about the Level system several weeks ago when Jane had seen a report labeled Level 8. She’d explained that the closer the Level got to 10, the more dangerous it was, and the more likely there would be casualties. Levels below 5 meant that while there is no risk of death or major collateral damage, injury is still likely. (So, although it isn’t a life or death situation, whatever situation Jane is in she’s either likely to get hurt, or already has been.)

Fury had insisted that Jane understand basic SHIELD codes in case she ever had to communicate with an agent in the field, or got kidnapped. EXT REQ is the code for Extraction Required. (She isn’t able to get out on her own.)

The rest of the message isn’t in any SHIELD code, but Natasha understands it just fine anyway. _Bring Hawkeye, but not Thor or the others._ (Assuming Jane is still at the bar, this makes sense. She and Hawkeye are the least destructive members of the team.)

Natasha grips her phone a little tighter as the most likely scenarios run through her head, but she pushes the worry from her mind. She puts a hand on Clint’s thigh, pulling his attention away from the joke Tony’s telling.

“I think it’s about time for us to go to bed, don’t you?” She asks, letting a little husky tone drop into her voice. She stands and heads for the door, watching him over her shoulder.

Clint smirks at her while Tony and Thor chuckle softly and Steve and Bruce blush slightly.

“I guess it is,” he says smoothly, standing and giving the room’s other occupants a mock salute, “Good night, gentlemen.”

He ignores the friendly jeers that follow this remark and heads after Natasha. She’s walking quickly, which is odd, but Clint chocks it up to impatience until she turns and starts heading for the parking garage instead of their room. He jogs for a second to catch up to her.

“Hey, Tash. Where are we going?” He asks, confused.

She doesn’t say a word, just hands him her phone with the open text from Jane. She looks at him when he looks up from reading it, and meets his eyes, knowing instantly that he’s understood the same thing she had. When they reach the parking garage, he grabs a set of keys from the hooks on the wall and tosses her the phone.

“Tell her we’re on the way. Fifteen minutes out.” He says, his voice hard.

She nods and jumps in the passenger seat while he takes the wheel and speeds out of the garage.

_Of course I won’t forget, silly! I tagged the EXT files for 15, and I just put the bird in the car._

***

Fifteen minutes later, Clint and Natasha walk into the bar, immediately scanning the room for Jane. After a few seconds, they see her at the corner booth with Darcy, three rather large guys on either side of them. Jane sees them at almost the same time they see her, and her body language relaxes visibly, though they can both still tell she is terrified. Darcy appears to be quite drunk, but doesn’t seem to want to be there any more than Jane. Clint immediately heads in their direction, keeping his gait casual, but fast. Natasha follows, her expression neutral.

“Jane! There you are! We’ve been waiting for you for almost an hour,” Clint remarks when he reaches the table, his voice deceptively cheerful, “We brought the car. Let’s go! Everyone’s at the house waiting for us.”

One of the guys on the end stands and faces Clint. He’s much bigger than the archer, and Natasha has to throttle back a laugh at the way he almost seems to puff out his chest.

“These nice ladies are hanging with us right now, pal. Why don’t you and your little girlfriend here take a hike?” He juts his chin in gesture at Natasha, then looks at her for a moment, eyeing her lewdly. “On second thought, why don’t you just get lost and leave this sexy little piece here with us. We’ll show her a _real_ good time.”

Natasha’s fists curls at her side, but Clint flattens one of the hands at his side in a silent ‘wait’ gesture. She doesn’t unclench her fists, but she follows his lead.

“I don’t think so. My friends and I have somewhere to be.” To the untrained observer, Clint’s voice is calm and polite, but Natasha knows him well enough to hear the steel underneath it.

The man sitting next to Jane has an arm slung around her shoulders. He pulls her close and runs his other hand down her cheek, which makes her cringe and try to pul away.

“And what if she doesn’t want to? We were just starting to have a little fun, weren’t we Miss Jane?”

“Get. Your hands. Off her.” Clint nearly whispers, venom dripping from his words.

The man sneers at Clint and runs the hand down Jane’s cheek again as the other men stand up from the booth, crowding them.

“Or what?” He asks snidely.

Faster than any of them can register the movement, Clint and Natasha move simultaneously. Knees meet stomachs, fists meet faces, bodies meet tables. In less than a minute, five of the guys are lying on the floor unconscious. The guy holding Jane sits there in shock, shrieking when Clint yanks the table away and Natasha grabs him by the collar, pulling him down until their noses are almost touching.

“Or we’ll do this.” She says politely, just before she punches him in the face. He drops like a stone at her feet, joining his friends in unconsciousness.

Clint holds out a hand to the shivering Jane, and she jumps to her feet, running to him and throwing her arms around his waist, burying her head in his shoulder. She shakes with fear and can’t help herself from crying into his shirt. He wraps an arm around her and puts a hand on her head, holding her tightly.

“Sssshh. You’re okay now. We’ve got you. You’re safe now. Sssshhh. You’re safe. We’re here.” He whispers softly, petting her hair gently as she cries into his shoulder.

Natasha takes Darcy by the elbow and helps her to her feet, chuckling under her breath when Darcy kicks one of the unconscious men as they walk past. When they reach the bar, Natasha hands the bartender a card with Tony’s name on it.

“Sorry about the mess. You can send the bill for the damages to him.”

She turns and walks away before the shocked and confused bartender can respond. Glancing at Clint, she makes a tiny jerk of her head at the door. He gives her a small nod in response. Gently, Clint turns and helps Jane out of the bar, climbing into the back seat with her and holding her close, while Natasha gets Darcy situated in the front seat, then slides behind the wheel and starts taking them home.

“Thank you.” Jane whispers as she starts to calm down, her voice muffled in Clint’s shirt.

“Anytime.” He responds softly, kissing her gently on the top of the head.

“I’m sorry that I…”

“Don’t.” Natasha interrupts before Jane can finish her sentence. “Never apologize for the actions of others, or for needing help. Those guys were creeps. If you’d tried to handle them on your own, they could have hurt you. You did the right thing, contacting us.”

Clint, who is an extremely observant person on his worst day, notices Jane hold her arm when Natasha mentions them hurting her, but doesn’t say anything. He’ll mention it to Thor later if Jane doesn’t herself.

“Tasha’s right, Jane. You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing. Okay?” He holds her a little tighter and she nods into his neck.

“I’m just really glad you guys are on our side. You guys are scary.” Darcy comments from the front conversationally, making everyone in the car smile.

***

When Natasha walks into the living room with Darcy, everyone stops talking and watches them. She helps the girl sit on the couch next to Bruce, who makes a startled sound when Darcy drops her head to his shoulder, then goes to get some water from the kitchen. When Clint walks in, an arm wrapped around a very distraught looking Jane, everyone sits up in their seat concerned. Thor stands and takes a few steps towards her.

“Jane? Has something happened? Are you alright?”

When she hears him, Jane lets go of Hawkeye and runs to him, burying her head in his chest and stifling her sobs. Confused and quite a bit concerned, he sits back in his chair, pulling Jane into his lap and holding her tightly, making small noises of comfort to calm her.

“I take it you and Natasha didn’t actually go to bed. So, what happened?” Steve asks as the archer takes a seat.

“Bunch of dick weasels at the bar were harassing them. So Jane sent Tasha a distress text, and we went and took care of it.” He explains calmly. Steve nods, accepting the explanation.

Thor looks down at Jane, lifting her chin with a finger and making her meet his eyes.

“Why did you not call me? You know I will do anything to keep you safe, my heart.” His voice is soft, but there is a tendril of hurt underneath it.

“Because you would have leveled the building.” Natasha answers for her friend, handing Darcy a glass of water before taking one to Jane. “Same reason she didn’t hit her panic button, I expect.”

“She made the right call Thor. It doesn’t have anything to do with her not trusting you to protect her.” Adds Clint.

Thor looks at them for a moment then settles, seeing the logic in their words.

“Did they hurt either of you?” Bruce asks, wrapping an arm around Darcy’s shoulders.

Jane stiffens for a moment, then pushes up her sleeve. There’s a hand shaped bruise on her upper arm from where one of the men had grabbed her. Thor covers the bruise with his large hand and pulls her more firmly into his lap.

“And the assailants?” Asks Steve, a bit of anger in his voice.

“Probably still unconscious on the floor. The bar should call the police and file an incident report.” Natasha comments drily, then turns to Tony. “I told the bartender to send the bill to you.”

Tony nods in acceptance. If she hadn’t already made the offer, he would have called them later.

“Will they be charged?” Steve questions.

“Doubtful. Even with Jane’s bruise as evidence, only one of them could be charged with anything, and he’d only pay a fine.” Clint says regretfully.

They all exchange glances, and nod at each other almost imperceptibly. No one hurts one of their own and gets away with it.

Later that night, after Jane and Darcy are asleep, the team quietly suits up and pays a visit to the hospital the men were taken to. There is no violence, only words. When they return to the mansion, they share a drink with a cruel smile. Fear is a beautiful form of justice.


End file.
